The Little Queen and her Squires
by Mick Howell
Summary: This is a response to this prompt: "They're much kinder to her than other males, and she adores them for it. OR Pod, Sansa, and Wex shenanigans". Sansa didn't want a Prince, a Lord, or a knight—or even a man who was "no knight". All she wanted were her squires.


ASOIAF

The Little Queen and her Squires

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Summary: This is a response to this prompt: "They're much kinder to her than other males, and she adores them for it. OR Pod, Sansa, and Wex shenanigans". Sansa didn't want a Prince, a Lord, or a knight—or even a man was "no knight". All she wanted were her squires.

* * *

"You swear you'll always stay with me?" She pleads when the battle—the last one of hundreds—is over and they're all covered in blood, ready to cry if not already doing it, feeling like pieces of their souls are missing. That's at least how she felt.

They kneel before her with their swords lain at her feet.

Podrick, whose voice hasn't been the same since her mother…hang him, and he was brought back, swears that he'll not only stay by her side, but kill or die for her.

Wex, who cannot speak, simply nods his head in agreement with what Podrick says.

She lets her tears fall and collapses to her knees with them. She pulls him into an embrace, not ever wanting to let go.

…

When the rebuild of Winterfell begins, they at first have to spend their nights in tents. She with her sister and brothers, them with the other knights and squires. But in the dead of night, they'd all sneak out and into the Gods' woods where they'd chase her with snowballs in hand, then roughhouse together while she watched and laughed, and then make castles and people made of snow, all by the light of the moon.

Sometimes Sansa was sure everyone in the ruins of Winterfell could hear them, but simply chose to ignore it and turn a blind eye to their young Queen's impropriety. Sometimes, Sansa looks at the faces carved in the trees and wonders if someone is watching them at play. Maybe the Gods, or greenseers, or…perhaps her parents and brother.

She hopes so—but at the some time doesn't.

Which is why when one night, when the boys pull her into their caper in the snow, and Wex presses his lips to hers, right in the sight of the Heart Tree, she doesn't know how to feel.

She decides later, that she's happy, because then perhaps her father and mother and brother could see how happy she was.

…

After the night in the woods, Wex is not very shy about kissing her. On the lips, on the cheek, or her hair—if no one but Pod was around, he showed no hesitation. His boldness was rather embarrassing actually, for both Sansa and Podrick, and though Sansa learned to simply chastise with an eye roll or verbal jape about courtesies, Podrick never ceased to turn red when Wex's lips were on hers.

That was why Sansa was so surprised when one night, while the three of them built one of their best snow castles yet, Podrick leant over and pecked her on the lips. She was so taken aback, she nearly toppled one of the towers she was working on and she felt her face turn the color of Dornish Wine.

Pod smiled sheepishly at her. "I wanted to know what it felt like." Was all he said before returning to the wall he was working on and before Wex shoved a snowball in his face.

…

When Winterfell was near completion, and Sansa moved into her new chambers, it became harder to sneak into the woods every night. So instead, they sneaked into one another's rooms. It was like a rotation. Some nights they spent settled next to the fire in Sansa's room, others on the cold floor of Wex's, and a few nights of the week they would find themselves sprawled out of Pod's bed.

Nothing happened between them in that manner, though both boys still enjoyed giving her kisses—some deeper than others—and Sansa often accidentally fell asleep in one or both of their arms and would have to race to get back to her chambers—or get the boys out of hers—before anyone noticed. They spent most evenings talking (or writing in Wex's case) or playing games.

The night was their time to escape the harsh days as squires and royalty and instead act like the children they had been just a few years ago.

It all seemed like innocent fun to Sansa.

Until, one day, they were caught. By Jaime and Brienne no less.

For some reason or another, Brienne had gone to check on her in the night, but instead found her bed cold and empty. She immediately went to Jaime and the two set out to find her. They checked all over Winterfell, but couldn't find her. Figuring they'd check the surrounding area outside the walls, they went to go wake their squires, only to find them curled up next to the fire in Wex's room.

They were not angry with her, or even the boys. But Sansa saw the disappointment in their eyes. They thought her above childish dalliances, and their squires above boyish escapades. Turned out they weren't. Sansa realized that her shenanigans with Pod and Wex were not befitting a young Queen, that she should stop it now that they had been caught by someone, before anyone else did and her honor was sullied.

But she couldn't. She knew that now she could never give up her squires. Her heart ached and her stomach twisted in knots at the very thought of never spending another night with her boys.

Why? Because she had fallen in love with them, she knew.

…

The maesters announced spring was on the horizon shortly after Sansa celebrated her seventeenth name day. Everyone in Westeros breathed a sigh of relief it seemed at the news. However, with good news came bad news, or in Sansa's case, demands from her vassals for her to marry and procure heirs.

Sansa didn't want to marry. She had only just been rid of her first marriage it seemed and she did not wish to enter another one anytime soon. She didn't want to give up the power she worked so hard for to a man or end up whelping babes for the rest of her life—besides, she already had heirs: her little brothers, her cousin, and her sister.

Lords and Ladies alike continued to plead for her to marry their son or brother or cousin, however. They sent them to Winterfell bearing gifts and they all tried to curry some favor with their young Queen, but Sansa had no interest in them. More than once, her advisors told her she could marry some Lord's son for political gain but could grow to love him. Sansa dismissed such ideas—she would not ever again try and convince herself that she could ever grow to love a man who only sought to marry her for his and his house's gain. No, never again.

Her squires were equally adamant that she not marry. Well, not so much adamant as very much against it. Pod rarely ever voiced his opinion on the matter, but the look on his face alone when Sansa spoke of the latest suitor who'd showed up on their doorstep made it clear how uncomfortable and irritated the idea made him. Wex couldn't voice his displeasure even if he wanted, but made faces that showed his disapproval almost constantly when in the presence of a young Lordling seeking her hand. He especially liked to mess with them in the training yard, "accidentally" tripping them into heaps of icy snow, shrugging his shoulders innocently when they glared up at him, and then walking away with a wide smirk.

But Sansa assured them every night with gentle chaste kisses on the lips that she wanted no lordling or prince or even a knight. She wanted only her squires.

…

Sansa may have promised never to stray from her squires, and her squires to never leave her, but she never counted on one of her own maids trying to steal one of them away from her. It started at a feast celebrating Rickon's ninth name day, when one of Sansa's chamber maids, Cedany, chose to sit down next to Podrick. Sansa watched from the high table almost all night as Cedany brushed her hands over Podrick's arms, hands, and shoulders, leaned in a tad to close to speak, and laughed at everything that came out of his mouth. Beside Pod, Wex eyed the girl warily, sending Sansa looks throughout the feast, as if asking how she felt about all this. Sansa kept a smile on her face the whole time, appearing perfectly happy throughout, a perfect mask of a gracious ruler and loving older sister, though on the inside, she was glaring daggers at Cedany and calling her many, many improper names the girl probably didn't deserve to be called.

When the feast ended and people began leaving the great hall, Sansa dropped the mask however and gave Wex one simple nod as she left. Wex returned the nod. Hours later, in the comfort of her chambers, Pod stumbled in, drunk off his ass, Wex practically dragging him.

Pod told the most interesting story that evening, about how oddly nice Cedany had been to him all evening, and how he thought she had been flirting with him. But then, to his surprise, one of the builders currently staying in Winterfell had stumbled up to them, calling Cedany some rather improper, names one might call their lover, and threw an arm around the girl. Cedany had been oddly enough flattered by the man's comments, and the two had disappeared the moment Pod's back was turned. Pod shrugged off the entire evening as Cedany just being nice.

Sansa thanked Wex when Pod passed out for paying off the builder.

…

When news arrived of the birth of Arya's daughter, Sansa was so happy for her, really, but she couldn't help being jealous. Her little sister had a husband, and now a child, and Jon had a wife and daughter as well. Bran and Meera, Sansa was sure, would one day marry. Her friends, Mya and Myranda, had both begun starting their own families as well. Myranda was married and with child in the Vale, and Mya and Sansa's steward were set to marry when spring arrived.

Everyone she loved and cared about seemed to be married, getting married, or having children. Meanwhile, she had formerly announced she would never, ever marry, and was now being called things like "The Wolf Maid" and "The Pure Winter Queen" and some much, much lewder names that implied a certain body part of hers was as cold as ice.

Sansa didn't like that, because despite everything, she was still that little girl who wanted to have a happily ever after like in a song, and when in a song did the maiden end up a unmarried, childless ice queen with two secret lovers? Never, that's when.

She had vowed never to marry, however, and she was no oath breaker. Besides, marrying either one of her squires would cause an up roar.

She did not, however, promise never to have children.

…

Her first time was with Podrick in the woods, under a heart tree. She had gone there to pray, Podrick in tow since Wex was busy training with Jaime and Brienne, but instead ending up kissing Pod deeper than she ever had before. He returned the kiss wholeheartedly, and they were both sent tumbling into the snow, laughing.

But then hands started wandering, and you know the old song and dance, and they found themselves sprawled out in the snow, shivering and naked, blood staining the pure white beneath them. It was far more awkward than Sansa ever expected. She couldn't even look at Podrick later that night as they sat by the fire in her chambers in silence.

Wex noticed the tension between the two of them and had scribbled down a note asking what was wrong. Pod turned red and stammered excuses, but Sansa sighed and told Wex the whole truth. Wex had been angry and stormed out of her chambers. Pod followed after him, and Sansa spent the night alone for the first time in years.

But the next day, Wex simply entered her solar, asking that she make love with him as well. That would make it fair, he had written.

Sansa had reluctantly agreed, slightly perturbed at the idea of actually planning to do something like that. And by planning, she meant actually step-by-step planning. First, she made sure everyone who could possibly bother in her Winterfell, as well as Pod, was busy during a certain time of the day, and that Wex was free as well. Then, she went to the old keep and found a room with a bed still in it and then passed along the location to Wex. Finally, one day Sansa sneaked away after her morning meeting with her steward to the old keep where she met Wex.

If it had been awkward with Pod, it was even more awkward with Wex. By the time they were done, curled up together under the furs, they were both mortified, unable to look at each other without blushing furiously. Sansa profusely apologized for…well, everything from her constant squeaking to her knee-jerk reactions. Wex's face alone spoke a million apologies as well for his own mistakes.

It was weeks before Sansa was able to let either Pod or Wex touch her without turning red and squirming. But within a few moons, both of them were taking her regularly.

…

It was on her eighteenth name day when Pod asked what she wanted that she finally let them in on her secret desire to be a mother. "I want a child." She had answered matter-of-factly, causing both Wex and Pod to blanch.

"B-But…" Pod stammered turned redder and redder by the second. Wex scribbled down a note and shoved it in her face. It read a plea that she was joking. Sansa laughed and shook her head.

"I want to be a mother, and I'd be really happy if one of you were to father my child." She explained. "Please let me have this. Please." She pleaded. Her squires exchanged looks of apprehension, but when they looked at her, Sansa saw their love for her in their eyes.

Both consented, and the next day Sansa stopped having Brienne sneak her moon tea in the mornings.

…

When her belly started to swell, it didn't take long for others to notice. Whispers started and soon the entire continent was abuzz with rumors about the Queen in the North being pregnant with a bastard. Within weeks of learning she was pregnant, Sansa received letters from Arya, Jon, and Bran, asking if the rumors they heard were true.

Apparently, in the Stormlands, the word was she her child had been fathered by the North itself.

In the Crownlands, Jon reported whispers of the Gods sending her a babe as an omen of a new beginning for all of Westeros and a golden age of peace and prosperity.

In the far north, on the Wall, the rumors had more realism than mysticism to them, saying she'd lain with some Lord or his son or a knight so below her station that she could never marry them.

Sansa laughed at the rumors and thought fondly of what rumors would sprout up once her child was born.

…

Her vassals were not happy about her pregnancy. Some even had the nerve to insist she drink tansy and be forced to marry. Sansa worried some servant might get bribed to slip her it in her tea or food, so she ordered Pod or Wex bring all her food and drink to her for the duration of her pregnancy. But mostly she relied on threats from her sister and brothers to keep her vassals in line. It worked, for the most part.

Besides, most of the opposition came from the Riverlands and Vale, while in the North most seemed happy that their Queen's child was a fatherless bastard who would have no loyalty to any house but Stark and any region but the North.

Sansa spent most the days of her pregnancy trying to forget the opposition to her child's existence. She spent most of her time with her wards. Minisa and Vayonia were toddlers now, and her new ward, Balon Pyke, required some special attention due to his overwhelming shyness, so Sansa spent her days in the play room with them, braiding Minisa's hair, playing the damsel in distress to Vayonia's knight and Balon's monster.

She thought it good preparation for her own child's arrival. So did Wex and Pod it seemed, as sometimes, she feel someone's eyes on her and look to the doorway to the play room to see one of them looking at her, smiling.

…

Sansa was so happy with her pregnancy for so long, it took her awhile to see the tension between Pod and Wex. She first noticed it one night as they sat by the fire in her chambers. They acted so chilly towards one another, and sent her large belly looks and then scowls at the other. It didn't take Sansa long to figure out that they in some sort of fight over who the father of her child was.

"Look, I know how important it is to you that one of you is the father of this baby by blood," She began, causing them to look at her in surprise. "But you will both be his father, blood or not." She stated firmly.

"Both of us?" Pod asked curiously. Sansa nodded and took both their hands and laid them on the stomach.

"He may only share blood with one of you, but you'll both be his father in my eyes and his, and I hope he'll be a son in both your eyes, regardless of whose look he has."

Wex and Pod exchanged looks and nodded their heads. Sansa beamed, and inside her, her child kicked. Both Pod and Wex grinned.

Their little conversation that night wasn't the end of Wex and Pod's little rivalry, but it toned down and both promised to care for the child regardless of his true parentage. Sansa was so happy.

…

She gave birth to Alyster a moon's turn after spring began.

He looked like her father, like Jon, and like her brothers did as babes according to Old Nan—Sansa was seriously starting to think that woman was immortal—with the Stark long face and the Tully red hair. Several weeks after he was born, Alyster's eyes settled on a blue so dark they looked black, just like Jon's were so gray they looked black. Sansa was disappointed not to find a hint of Pod or Wex in her son's look, but perhaps that was a good thing.

…

When Alyster turned three, Sansa decided she wanted to take him and her wards outside of Winterfell. Wex and Pod escorted them, and with five children in tow, they came to a meadow where the children could play.

Sansa settled under a tree at the top of a nearby hill, Wex and Pod on either side of her, and they watched the children play. They watch the children have snowball fights, play tag and pretend, and roughhouse in the muddy snow.

The children were the perfect picture of summer innocence, and they the perfect picture of a little Queen and her Squires.

* * *

**A/N: Saw the prompt, thought I'd give it a go—hope ya liked it!**

**Please review and if you have any other prompts for me, send me a message~!**


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